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Pep Guardiola signs his new contract, seated between Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano (left) and football director Txiki Begiristain (right)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola “came nowhere close” to leaving the Premier League club, says Guillem Balague of BBC Radio 5 Live.
City announced on Thursday that the Spaniard signed a two-year contract extension until 2023.
They have won six major honors since the 49-year-old former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager took over in 2016.
“The man is happy, he is having fun, he is surrounded by friends,” said Spanish soccer writer Balague.
After handing over the league title to Liverpool last season and failing to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for the fourth consecutive year, Guardiola entered the final year of his contract with City.
He was linked to a return to Camp Nou after presidential candidate Victor Font said last month that he would be willing to bring him back external-link but Guardiola said his time as Barca coach was “over”.
“We all knew that Manchester City had put a deal on the table, we didn’t know how long it would last, and City was not going to put any pressure on him,” Balague added.
“In recent months, there have been stories about riots on the pitch, player agents knocking on doors to see what happens, just because they didn’t know if Guardiola was going to stay.
“But the decision makers at Manchester City have been very confident. The transition that started this summer, to a version two of Manchester City, with Guardiola, will continue next summer as well.”
“Most of the transition is done, but there is more to do. He feels there is room for improvement and he needed him to take care of it.”
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Guardiola won nine grands prix in four years as Barcelona coach and, after a sabbatical, spent three years at Bayern Munich since 2013.
“In Barcelona there was so much tension that last year [2011-12] It was very difficult for him, ”Balague said.
“At Bayern Munich, after every game, he had to explain to his bosses why the team was winning or losing. In the last six or seven months of his contract it was clear that he was not going to renew.
“But at City he doesn’t have to do any of that. He’s motivated by the fact that there will have to be changes in the squad and he has the backing of the club to do that.”
“With the [presidential] elections in Barcelona on January 24, is a good time to say ‘I will not be part of that’ or ‘you cannot use my name’. But it is also time for everyone to focus on the job at hand and no one should think about leaving, because he stays. “
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The Champions League ‘is never a requirement’ of Manchester City
Guardiola’s European record has been called into question, as nine years have passed since the second of his two Champions League victories as a manager.
He has failed to carry City beyond the quarter-finals in four attempts, but Balague says winning the Champions League “was never a requirement” of the City leadership.
“If he doesn’t get the Champions League, it will be a stick that he will be beaten with for the rest of his time at Manchester City,” he added.
“What Guardiola was asked to do was dominate the national titles and be regulars in, say, the semi-finals of the Champions League. That hasn’t happened yet, not so much to win it but to compete for it, so I’m sure that there is an incentive to do so.
“I’m not sure that Manchester City will ever ask Guardiola to win the Champions League as a condition. But, if you look at some of the results that happened to them, they could have gone the other way.
“I am sure that Pep Guardiola would like me to continue on his path and confirm that Manchester City belongs to that elite of the four or six best European teams.”
Source: bbc.com
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